Link conveyer



Jan. 6, 1931. H'. H. HARRIS LINK commen A Filed May `7. 192s' .Patented Jan. s, 1931 AUNrrl-:o JsTATla'gs [PATI-:Nfl` OFI-rca HENRY H. HARRIs, on DETROIT, IIICHIGAN, AssIG'NoR To 'GENERAL ALLOYs COMTANY,

or' BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or IIAssACHUsETTs LINK CoNviIYnR Application med lay 7, 1928. Serial No. 275,757.

This invention relates to conveyer links and particularly to conveyer links for use in heat treating furnaces.

It has heretofore been the custom to use flat metallic links or'plates interengaged to form a chain. or conveyer, but such links fail to permit perfect heat treatment. The reason for this. is vthat the base of any varticle travelling on such a link thru a heat treating furnace receives only so much heatas is passed thru the link. It is easy to see that the heat passed thru the link may be less than that around the rest of the article.

. In the case of very small articles, many of which may be grouped on each link, the uneven heating condition is magnied with the result that loss of heatl and space is preferred to poor results and consequently it is not custorary to closely group articles on a single lin In addition, the metallic links or plates of the conventional type conveyor absorbs as much heat in transit thru a furnace as the articles they carry. The heat is largely lost as the various links ride out of the furnace, merely by radiation and convection. vThus thereare two definite types of heat lossesin the use of conveyer links now in use.

It is the object of this invention to provide a link which will permit ready access of heat to the entire surfaces of any articles placed thereon by. permitting heat to uniformly'reach theundjerside of such articles.

It is a further object to provide a link which will'permit the maximum loadin of small articles thereon with minimized anger of uneven heating.

It is a still further object to provide a link which will not absorb as much heat as links now in use and consequently not lose as much heat by radiation and convection.

It is a further object to provide a link capable of carrying out the above named ob- Ajects which shall be cheap to manufacture,

capable ofuse in link conveyers now 1n use without any change whatever in. machinery or tools, and similar in installation to those now in use. scribed may replace other linksif desired, so that the conveyer may contain both new In fact the new link herein deand Vold links without any ill effects in the operation ofthe system.

An important object is to provide a conveyer link for heat treatingfurnaces where said link vis of an open structure having a frame-supported perforated tray capable of stretching to accommodate expansion of the frame of the link.

will be had with reference to the accompanymgdrawings in which A better understanding of my invention igure 1 shows ,a perspective View lot' my i improved link.

Figure 2 shows a cross section taken along line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1. l

Figure 4 shows a detailed sectional view of onecorner ofthe link.

Figure 5 shows a conventional heat treating furnace having a link conveyer'travelling thru it.

Referringmore particularlyto the drawings:

Numeral Lrefers generally to a conveyor link formed in the shape of a flat hollow rectangle bounded by two side walls 2' and by two end walls 3 and 4. -Integrally cast with wall 3 is a curved coupling member 5 adapted to engage the next succeeding link, whose adjacent end is similar to the end of link 1 opposite to that carrying member 5. This opposite end, which is built integrally with wall 4 is enlarged at 6 thruout its length, Y

slotted. at 7 a 'width corresponding to the width of coupling member 5 and has protrud- 111g arms 8 by which the belt'or conveyer formed by a plurality of links may bel driven by a suitable mechanism '-(not shown).

Embedded in the walls'Q, 3 and 4 are the marginal portions of a thin perforated tray 9, preferably lin the form of a wovenwire screen of a suitable heat-resisting material. I

While I prefer to embed the plateof screen 9 in the walls while casting the plate, it is also possible to cast the rectangular hollow exterior portion and attach the screen thereto by welding or in any suitable manner. Figure 4 illustrates the preferred manner of i a conventional furnace having grates or fireboxes 11, a floor 12 and a door 13 thru which :L convey'er composed of a plurality of links 1 is adapted to' enter the furnace and rideon the oor thereof. Figure 5 serves to givel a complete idea of the manner in which I intend to use my improved link and to` graphically illustrate the advantages of -em- -ploying such a link.

It is preferred to make both the screen and the Alink frame of a heat resistingmate-v rial, such for exampleas of a chrome-nickel alloy, whereby relatively long life will be assured, especially in high-temperature furnaces and it is also desirable to provide therein a screen or tray which will havethe property of extending to accommodate expansion and the contraction of the frame of the link. For .this reason I show the strands of the screen fabric as extending diagonally of the link and as being corrugated or other than straight in the direction of their length, so that the said strands are in themselves capable of extension as is the fabric as a whole, which will be readily understood.

While I have specifically shown a single embodiment of my 'invention it is evident that various changes in form may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I desire to be `limited in its application only by the 'scope of the appended claims in which I claim': a

1. In combination with a heat treating furnace having a conveyer traveling therethrough, a link for said conveyer comprising 1 a hollow metallic rectangle having cast walls, coupling members cast integrallyvwith two opposed end walls, and a heat resisting screen integrally embedded centrally of the height lof said walls whereby the screen will not drag in transit.

2. A conveyer llink according to claim 1,

wherein said screen is elastic to accommodate expanslon of sald rectangle.

work integral cast with said tray at the edges thereof, said tray being extensible under vthe influence ofheating in the hveattreating fur.- -v

nace to accommodate expansion of the sides of said framework.

.4. In combination with a heat treating furnace having a conveyer traveling therethrough, a link of said conveyer comprising an open rectangular framework and wire mesh covering the opening Vin said frameor work,'said mesh having its strands diagonally i to provide extensibility of said'mesh upon4 expansion of said framework.

, 5. In combination with a heat treating furnace having a conveyer traveling therethrough, a link of said conveyer comprising an open rectangular framework composed of a heat resisting metallic alloy and wire mesh covering the opening in said framework, Said mes comprising wire strands of a heat resisting. metallic alloy extending diagonally across the open rectangle and having 'the ends therlof integrally embedded in said framewor f 1 In testimony whereof I aiiixmy signature.

' HENRY H. HARRIS. 

